A Changed World
by TheGirlWithFarTooManyIdeas
Summary: Inspired by a challenge by Crossoverpairinglover. Voldemort died a martyr, and thirty years of war were fought over the purity of blood. Having lost all he cared about, Harry decides to make use of an old device to rewrite time. But the world he returns to isn't the one he remembers - he'll have to play a new game. Harry/Multi, dark, alter!universe, ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1

**A Changed World**

**Inspired by a challenge by Crossoverpairinglover**

**Prologue**

Britain was a ruin.

The thirty year war that had raged across its surface had finally burned out, if only because there was no one left to fight it. The country, once teeming and relatively prosperous, was now an uninhabited ruin. Anyone who survived the Second Blood War, as it was now called overseas, had long since fled. Everyone who had remained had either perished or gone so far into hiding they were never seen again by living eye.

Deep in the heap of rubble that was once called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a young man with dark hair lurched to his feet, reeling from yet another nightmare. Once he realized where he was, he groaned and rubbed his eyes.

Harry James Potter. Boy Who Lived, Auror, Killer of Voldemort, Husband, Widower.

He had thought it was over when he had struck Voldemort dead that fateful day at Hogwarts. He had been proven very wrong in short order.

Before his utterly stunned eyes, the corrupt Ministry had transformed the snakelike madman from a mass murderer into a hero, and a martyr for the pureblood cause. Those who had remained of his forces, along with purebloods from around the world, flocked to his place of death vowing to finish what he had started.

And so the war dragged on and on.

Harry had seen a lot of people he loved fall in battle. Too many. Just about all his friends had died now, along with almost everyone he recognized.

There was no one left in Britain aside from him – that toad Umbridge had unleashed the Dementors as a means of eliminating the muggle population of Britain. The other countries had managed to prevent the horrid creatures from leaving the boarders, but it was too late for the countless innocents who had called Britain home.

Harry could still hear them crying for help when he slept.

But the worst of his losses had been his wives.

They had come periodically over the thirty years he had spent fighting. Soul Bonds, they were called – when people's love was so intense it bound their souls together with a silver cord, sharing their magic, their lifeforce...everything.

The first had been Ginny. His first great love. Firey and fierce as fire and lightning, but she showed a sensitivity and loving kindness around him that strengthened him and gave him a reason to live. She had gone down fighting, taking all the Death Eaters in the area with her in a frenzied Fiendfyre to allow Harry to escape and keep fighting. Harry had honestly expected to die when he lost her.

Maya Pritchard had rescued him. She had been fighting to avenge her kid brother Graham's death, the only family member of hers who wasn't a hateful, racist and blood purist tool. She pulled him back from the abyss, and her quiet yet stubborn courage, along with her inventiveness and creative heart caused them to fall in love. She died thanks to Draco Malfoy's cowardly sneak attack at their home.

Harry had payed him back in full when he returned home.

Tracey Davis had been next. She was always full of manic energy; her laughter was infectious and sometimes she was the only thing that could get Harry out of bed. She lent him strength as the war reached its second fever pitch, but she died protecting him from a stray curse.

Last was Megan Jones. Britain's last muggleborn. Sheer desire for revenge had kept her going after the brutal deaths of her family near the beginning of the second war. And yet under all that anger there was still some empathy, and love, though despite their soul bond Megan seemed a little too drained to truly commit to a relationship until her final days. She died of an infection two days after she finally broke down her walls and gave herself to him fully.

After these losses, Harry gave up on the world as it was. Instead, he had retreated into the ruins of Hogwarts and began work on something Dumbledore had began in his time, but never finished.

The Kronotron.

Strictly speaking, time magic was a damning and difficult thing to master – only Merlin and Helga Hufflepuff had ever managed to successfully use it outside of the staple time loop restrictions. Hermione had used something similar, back when they were still in school.

However, given his now unlimited free time Harry had gone to work on the instrument. He wasn't known as one of the most skilled magic users who ever lived for no reason, though the wrecked machine put up a valiant fight to not be fixed.

But now he had fixed it.

Relaxing somewhat as he hooked it up to its final surge protectors, Harry glanced to the side and smiled sadly at the pictures and portraits of his old friends.

Sirius...Remus...Tonks...Hermione...Professor McGonagall...Neville...Luna...

...all those muggles...

Ginny...Maya...Tracey...Megan...

"I'm going to save you all this time," He promised, before chuckling slightly to himself.

His 'saving people thing', that's what Hermione had called it. He had been so angry when she told him that at first, and yet...she had been right in the end.

With a flick of his wand, Harry activated the Kronotron. Brilliant white light flooded the room, the school, and the entire world, leaving everyone blind and with a strange sense that everything was fading and reforming.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Thirty Years Prior**

Albus Dumbledore felt the surge of magic before he saw the flash of light. He woke quickly and stared out the window, seeing a point of light vanish into the sky.

"Was that...the Kronotron? But I never got the thing to work...unless..."

Eyes widening as he came to the realization, Dumbledore quickly rushed out of his room at the school and into his office.

Sitting in the middle of his desk were eight books he had never seen before, each one thicker then the last. Albus slid into his chair and began to sort through them.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone...what did the Flamels have to do with the young boy? Why would they get involved with the world after retreating so far?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets...no...Dumbledore had done everything he could to ensure that horrid place would never open again...how had it been done?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban...well, the title wasn't very helpful when you considered the number of its prisoners would have a grudge against the boy who lived.

Harry Potter and the Tri-Wizard Tournament...who in their right mind would resurrect that massacre disguised as a tourney? Who could be so desperate?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...he suspected that Voldemort may be capable of returning...

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince...what did Severus have to do with anything?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...Dumbledore closed his eyes temporarily at the memory of his great folly...he could only hope that Harry, having lost his parents, hadn't been seduced by the same lure...

and finally...Harry Potter and the Kronotron...

Dumbledore had placed a charm upon the machine, that ensured it could only be used as an absolute last measure, if the end of the world was neigh or some such situation. The fact that it had been activated...

The ageing headmaster felt all his over 100 years for a moment, before marshaling himself. Undoubtedly Harry would be coming to the school in order to change the timeline...now he needed to read up on the former future to ensure the worst could be averted...

So Dumbledore picked up the Philosopher's Stone and began to read through the first chapter. He hadn't gotten far before a sense of panic struck him – Minerva's words when she had dropped the boy off were ringing in his ears.

_The worst sort of muggles imaginable..._

He had to send someone to check on the young boy immediately.

**Undisclosed Location**

Far away, Voldemort was struck by a sudden fear. It was as if every single one of his horcruxes was being destroyed!

The wraith shuddered in fear, but he waited a moment, another moment...he didn't fade away. His most precious artifacts were safe...or were they?

"Quirrel..."

"Y-y-y-yes master?"

"Change of plans. There are some affairs I must see too."

**In A Hut on a Rock in the Sea**

Harry woke up dazed. This place...this was the rock that the Dursleys had taken him too when they were trying to avoid his Hogwarts letter. He had done it! The machine had worked!

Elated, the boy leapt to his feet.

However, he quickly realized that something was different.

All the Dursleys were unconscious, lying in a heap in the middle of the room. Vernon in particular looked like he had taken a bludgeoning curse to the head, blood tricking down through his hair.

Lying at Harry's feet was a knife. A knife covered in something he was willing to be wasn't tobacco sauce.

Unnerved, Harry looked down at himself. His ragged clothes were now torn up in several places...and was now coated with some dried blood.

_What the hell!?_

Harry had an eye for detail. He could guess what had happened here – the Dursleys had straight up attempted to murder him! But why? They had never been this bad before?

Hermione's voice echoed in his ears. _Strange things happen when people try to change time!_

Now worried, Harry sprinted outside. He needed to see Dumbledore, and he needed to get away from this place. The time to change things started now.

**At Hogwarts**

Harry groaned. He knew there were some disadvantages to being eleven again – while he had retained most of his magical abilities thanks to the Kronotron, it had taken him an hour of arguing and pleading to be allowed access to the floo to see Dumbledore.

"Hello Harry," Dumbledore said serenely when Harry was finally let into his office by an extremely suspicious looking McGonagall. Harry was far too happy to see her again to get angry about that. "My time travelling hero."

"Professor Dumbledore, I have to tell you – wait. You know-?"

"Yes, I put a spell on the Kronotron that would inform me if anyone succeed in using it to change time." Dumbledore raised a book with Harry's name and face on it. "I've caught up, and you can consider me your ally in this venture."

Harry expelled a breath of relief and collapsed on a waiting chair. "Thank god. I really wasn't looking forward to arguing that I was perfectly sane _again_." He said. Being considered or called insane was a huge pressure point for him.

Dumbledore smiled in understanding. "I imagine you're quite fed up with that. Well, I have to warn you – things may not be exactly as you remember?"

"What? Why?"

"I used the Kronotron once myself, Harry. It has a major flaw – though it sent you back in time properly, it has a tendancy to punch holes in reality."

"Huh!?"

"You're familiar with the concept of alternate realities?"

"Uh...Yeah. Maya talked to me about it once." Harry recalled. "Something about decisions being the focal point of history...and different choices becoming different worlds. But what does that have to do with the Kronotron?"

"It's difficult to use time magic without running into the Staple Time Loop." Dumbledore said. "Of course, if you want to _change _history, that's something you don't want. But breaking a loop can have devastating consequences – it could cause time to collapse on itself, or it will find ways to reset itself to its original state. What I designed the Kronotron to do would be to punch a hole through reality when it reached the point in time where the changes would begin. Effectively, this is not the reality you remember."

"What...but...then how am I supposed to know what to do?"

"It's not entirely different," Dumbledore said soothingly. "Many key events have remained the same."

"Such as the deaths of my parents?" Harry asked dispiritedly. He would have liked to grow up with them.

"I'm sorry Harry but yes. I cannot tell you if all the changes will be negative, but be on your guard – some unexpected changes may wrong foot you."

Harry pushed his concern away and got a determined look on his face. "I won't let that stop me, Professor."

"I know it wouldn't." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Now, how about I show you to your ancestral home...to give you time to prepare for school, of course. I imagine there shall be a few ladies you'll want to meet again."

**End Chapter**

**Just how different will this world be? ...Well, you'll see next chapter! I hope you'll be surprised. :)**

**Read and Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Changed World**

**Tyene: So how different is this place gonna be?**

**Wanda: Let's say it's going to get REALLY surreal pretty quickly. I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 2: The Train to Hogwarts**

Harry was fairly certain that his parents hadn't had a mansion in the previous timeline.

Yet his new home was a stunning white mansion with four floors, a large garden and a number of recreational rooms including a pool and a hot tub as well as a television room. Harry had been sleeping in the master bedroom for the last two weeks prior to the beginning of the school year – Dumbledore had mailed him all his materials and even bought Hedwig for him, 'to avoid as much stress as possible'.

Of course, being without much to do didn't help Harry's mental state, causing him to go over millions of disaster scenarios in the privacy of the mansion.

What if his girls were different people from the ones he had fallen in love with?

What if Sirius really was a traitor here? Harry didn't think he could bear loosing his godfather in that way. It had been traumatic enough with the veil.

What if the horcruxes were different? Were they in different places? What if his friends were unrecognizable?

These questions rolled around in his head, often keeping him up late at night. However, when the day finally arrived for him to go to Hogwarts, Harry was surprised that the extent of his nervousness was butterflies in his stomach. He was surprised he didn't vomit out of the stress of it all.

Either way, he grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's cage and used the house's Floo system to transport himself to the platform.

Platform nine and three quarters was just as populated and upbeat as Harry remembered. Seeing it bustling again instead of a smoking ruin made him smile.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Tonks, stop teasing your cousins!" A familiar voice admonished. Harry moved towards it.

Three young women were standing side by side, a group of children pushing and shoving and crying because they weren't going to Hogwarts yet.

Andromeda Tonks glanced over her shoulder while laughing and caught sight of Harry. "Hey! Are you a first year?" She asked kindly.

"Yeah." Harry said, pushing his cart over to join them.

The two other women turned around and Harry damn near swallowed his tongue. It was Narcissa and Bellatrix Lestrange! Except...except Bellatrix looked totally different! She was dressed in a leather coat and pants (like a muggle!), her hair was clean and brushed, and there was no trace of that insane look in her eyes that promised sadism and cruelty. A pair of headphones dangled around her neck. She was smiling and radiating friendliness and energy.

Narcissa also looked totally different; she was also dressed in muggle clothes (though she looked distinctly ill at ease in them) She didn't look like she had a stick up her rear; in fact she looked quite collected if somewhat long-suffering at the children's antics. There was an ease to her face, as if she wasn't constantly trying to pretend to be a statue.

"Hello there!" Bellatrix cooed, smiling at Harry. "First year? So are my twins." She nodded at a boy and a girl of equal height and identical hair who were watching Tonks disappear through the wall. "What's your name?"

"H-Harry," The boy said as he tried to smother his shock.

The girl turned around, grinned and stuck out her hand. "Cassandra Lupin," She said proudly, apparently not noticing Harry balk and turn white with shock. "The idiot over there is my brother Perseus."

"I'm not an idiot!" Perseus protested, glaring at Cassandra. "Just because I can't read one of _The_ _Lord of the Rings_ books in one sitting doesn't make me an idiot!"

Harry accepted Cassandra's hand, his head swimming furiously. _A changed world. Dumbledore warned me about changes to the timeline. Just have to stay calm and act natural – ffffuuuuuu REMUS MARRIED BELLATRIX!? _

"Nice to meet you," He said politely, and was quietly impressed with himself that Tracey's lessons for hiding your emotions had actually sunk in.

"Which house do you think you'll be in?" Piped up a silver-haired boy from the far right...no way, it was Draco! There was no drawl in his voice, in fact he sounded quite nice.

"You can talk on the train," Narcissa chided him gently, "If we keep standing around here talking you're going to miss it."

"Can't we go?" The older of two young girls hanging onto her asked pitifully.

"When you're old enough," New Draco said comfortingly, petting her hair. "Don't worry Diana, I'll send you and Artemesia lots of letters."

"We're holding you to that," The younger of the two said threateningly, staring imperiously at Draco with her emerald green eyes.

Harry took a deep breath and followed Cassandra through the wall. Once again, the platform was full of familiar faces...though how familiar there would be here was the question.

He spotted Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnagin boarding the train. They seemed normal, if carrying one or two more siblings each. Theodore Nott was standing not far away, looking just as pompous and proud as Draco had in the original time line where he had been more of a lone wolf.

He saw the three chasers Angelina Alicia and Katie on the side of the road, and they were looking significantly more...punk. They looked like they had just stepped out of a rock concert with Lordi.

Then he saw Fred and George out of the corner of his eye, discussing something with two girls; a blonde and a brown haired girl. Had...had he given them friends or partners in chaos? Harry wondered what he had unleashed upon the world.

"Looks cool, doesn't it?" Cassandra's voice floated over from his left. Harry had almost forgotten they were still here.

"Yeah," He said casually, turning back towards her and Perceus. "Shall I see you later on the train?"

Cassandra grinned. "Sure. Just don't expect special treatment because you're Harry Potter."

Harry found himself smiling at her. "Believe me, there's nothing I'd like better then that."

Perseus looked surprised, but Cassandra was pleased. "We might just get along, Harry. See you later! Tracey's probably wondering where the hell I am."

_Tracey_. "Are you expecting her somewhere?" Harry asked quickly.

Cassandra shrugged. "Somewhere on the train; we have to look for each other. Her parents always drag her places absurdly early."

"Mind if I help you look for her?"

"Why?" Perseus asked warily. "Do you know her?"

"We've met before once," Harry answered evasively. "On the street in Diagon Alley. She's quite energetic, right?"

"Oh yeah," Perseus said, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "Hey, if you ever come to our place, would you mind hanging out with me? Having Tracey and Cassie in the same room is kind of like feeding Bugs Bunny thirty candy carrots and ducking."

_Bugs Bunny? _Any suspicion that Bellatrix might still be a death eater evaporated utterly. There was no way the uptight purebloods knew anything about the Warner Brother's cartoons. "Sure," Harry said easily, glancing over his shoulder. He noticed that Draco had left. "Where'd your cousin go?"

"Probably looking for Neville Longbottom." Cassandra said. "They've been friends for a while. Our parents are close to the Longbottoms since mom rescued them from the Lestrange brothers."

So...that was the other result of Bellatrix being good – Neville still had his parents functioning and with him. "Your mother fought them off by herself?" Harry asked as they stepped onto the train, hoping to get more information on the changed timeline as well as making small talk.

"Yeah! Our mother is one of the best duellers who ever lived," Cassandra said proudly. "She beat her own father at sixteen when he tried to marry her to Rabastian Lestrange, and then she fought of both him and his brother Orion when she ran away with our dad – he's a werewolf, you see, and that's probably the only thing worse then marrying a muggleborn in their eyes. She just burst right in with dad and kicked their sorry asses to the curb. It was epic."

Harry nodded in understanding as he absorbed this information. Remus and Bellatrix...even knowing that Bellatrix was a hero here, the image refused to manifest in his mind. "Where was your dad?"

"At Gringotts. He's an auror, and apparently there had been a break-in yesterday. The goblins wanted help investigating because it was clearly a wizard-planned incident." Perseus explained.

Break in...had Voldemort actually managed to gain the Philosoper's Stone this time? "I heard that Gringotts is supposed to be one of the safest buildings in the world."_ Breaking into it had certainly been a pain in the neck. _"Did anything get stolen?"

"Dad didn't say it outright, official business," Cassandra said with a frown, "But I heard something may have gone missing. Of course, auntie Narcissa told us not to put stock in rumours – they always come from bored purebloods who have nothing better to do with their time, she says."

"Well, I hope the rumour that she castrated her git of a first husband is true," Perseus said viciously. "I met Lucius Malfoy exactly once and I would have done it."

Huh. So Draco was still Narcissa's son, but the two girls weren't. Harry didn't press on such a personal issue, but it gave him some things to think about. He had seen a shred of humanity in Narcissa in those fading days – regret and sorrow, especially after Draco died.

"It's amazing Draco is so nice, having to spend three months a year with that git," Cassandra agreed, scowling.

Harry caught sight of a familiar head of red hair in the compartment next to him. "Mind if I meet up with you later?" He asked. "This trunk is heavy and I think Hedwig's about ready to bite me." The owl wasn't at all pleased with how much rattling the wheels caused.

The twins nodded. "Later! I hope we end up in the same house!" Cassandra yelled over her shoulder as she and Perseus hurried down the hall.

**In the Compartment, a few minutes ago**

"Hi, mind if I sit in here?"

Megan Jones looked up from her copy of _The Return of the King _to see another girl her age standing in the doorway, looking out of place. "Sure," She said uncertainly.

The reason for her wariness was her first red haired visitor to this car had been less then pleasant. It had been a red haired boy and his older brother, who had looked down their noses at her and called her a stupid mudblood. They hadn't left until she hit them both in the face with one of the first spells she ever managed – the pins and needles hex.

This girl, however, seemed much friendlier. She sat down across from Megan and offered her hand. "Tracey Davis," She said.

Megan accepted. "Megan Jones," She said.

Tracey eyed her book. "Oooh, what's that? Never seen it before." She smiled. "I'm a huge bookworm, got stuff all over my floor at home. Drives my parents crazy."

"That makes both of us," Megan said. "Though I admit I probably watch TV a little more." Upon Tracey's blank look, she cautiously asked, "Do you not have TV in the magical world?"

Tracey shook her head. "Uh, no. The closest we get to big time entertainment is the Quidditch matches. I take it your a muggleborn?"

Megan bristled. "Yeah. Why does that matter?" She asked defensively.

Tracey raised her hands in the air. "Absolutely nothing," She said. "I was just going to ask what a TV was."

"mmm...how to explain..." Megan wondered, "Think of it as like a recorded play, except you can skip through it or go back to earlier parts immediately."

"Sounds cool," Tracey said with a tone of genuine interest allowing Megan to relax fully. Maybe she'd be able to make a friend here after all.

The door opened again; a haggard looking girl with slate grey hair rushed inside and closed the door. "Hide me!" She whispered.

Megan was confused, but she understood immediately when she saw the red haired asshole passing by the door. Tracey cast a locking charm on it, preventing him from coming in and bothering them.

"That utter git," Megan growled.

"Must be Ron Prewett." Tracey sighed. "Ever since Molly Prewett came to believe in Walburga Black's fanatacism, she took half of her family to the ancestral Black home. I swear, that woman is a demon and her two spawn are worse then her, 'xcept for the girl."

Upon Megan's curious look, Tracey elaborated, "Pure bloods often have parties were the families mingle to set up alliances and other political BS, and the children are brought along to 'learn by example'." She rolled her eyes. "Which is another way of saying they learn to be just as xenophobic, cruel and self-interested as their parents. I'm amazed Ginny Prewett hasn't gone totally bananas having to live in that enviornment."

The haggard girl nodded and sank into her seat. "Maya Pritchard," She introduced herself. "I have to agree about Ginny...poor thing...she's not meant for that lifestyle. She tries to be friendly and positive but I can see how sad her mother and brothers make her."

Megan snorted. "If being a 'pure blood' means being totally fucking miserable, I guess I'm not missing out."

"Wow, that's big language for a girl," Tracey said teasingly, while Maya smiled slightly.

Megan glanced around them before saying, "This might sound weird but do I know you two?"

Maya frowned, "I know what you mean – but I don't think I have. How strange."

Tracey shrugged elegantly before saying, "Must be magic." half jokingly. "Excuse me a minute, I need to go look for a friend...Cassandra's going to bite my head off if we don't meet up soon as we planned."

She got up and opened the door. Standing on the other side was a boy with messy black hair, glasses, green eyes, baggy clothes and a lightning scar on his forehead.

The boy gaped. "Maya? Tracey? Megan?"

The girls all gasped as they were struck with memories.

"_I know that this won't bring Graham back...but I don't want the war to end entirely in tears...I want there to be something worth fighting for..." She ran her fingers through his hair. "...and I think you're that thing. I mean, why fight a war if there isn't something good on the other side?" _-Maya

"_Look, I know I can't replace Ginny or Maya – and I'm not trying to. I just want to help you get through this – because what else do I have to loose? My family has already disowned me for being a sympathizer. I want to bring sunlight and happiness back into this world...and if I start with you, can I be blamed for that? If anyone deserves it, its you _-Tracey

"_...I always knew that it wouldn't bring them back...but it is all that keeps me going...to bring some justice to this world. That's all I ask for. Can you give that to me?" _-Megan.

A moment of stunned silence hung over the compartment. Then all three girls got up and threw themselves onto the boy, laughing and crying, their words lost to a cacaphony of noise. "-how did-" "-Kronotron worked! Can't believe-" "-see you again-"

Once everyone had regained their composure and sat down, Megan decided to say what was on everyone's mind. "Well, has anyone noticed how fucking _weird _this place is?" She said. "Bellatrix Lestrange went from being my mother's murderer to a freakin hero, I suddenly have a new brother, and when I went through Diagon alley I saw signs in a bunch of places saying 'pure blood partons only'." Her eyes narrowed into slits at the memory.

"I swear the Ministry seems worse now," Tracey said. "I know what you're talking about Megan. My parents...while they seem a lot nicer now...they said there's probably one non corrupt government official in the whole system."

"Well that's just great," Megan said sarcastically. "Got anymore wonderful news for us?"

"RON IS A GIT!" Maya exploded, prompting everyone to stare at the usually quietest and gentlest of the group. Calming down a bit, Maya went on angrily, "I swear he's transformed into Malfoy from the original timeline, him and Percy both! And Molly Weasley is practically unrecognizable! My parents were talking about a marriage between us in the future, and Ron said he could use a plaything in his room!"

Harry seethed at this sideways remark at one of his wives.

"So we're in uncharted territory, and a huge chunk of our memories are potentially useless." Megan summerized. "Joy."

"We'll work it out," Harry said. "Dumbledore is on our side this time – he helped me when I got back here first. Look, after we get sorted we'll talk more – we're getting close to Hogwarts.

"OH CRAP!" Tracey said in a panic, "I told Cassandra I would find her before we got off the train! She's going to kill me – I'll be back!" She hurried out of the compartment.

Megan laughed, while Maya looked scandalized in response. Harry couldn't help but chuckle, that was his Tracey all right.

**End Chapter**

**(laughs) Okay, before anyone bites my head off over Remus/Bellatrix, this is the altered world where Bellatrix was always a good person. I don't ship canon!Bellatrix with anyone. **

**Read and Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A Changed World**

**Tyene: I have a feeling I'll have to handle the author's notes for a while.**

**Wanda: (flailing around, squeeing) _OH MY GOD ULTRON OH MY GOD WANDA AND PIETRO OH MY GOD PLANETARY EXTINCTION WHAT WHAT WHAT WANDA IS SO BADASS WHY THE HELL IS NATASHA KISSING BRUCE WHY IS STEVE BEING A DICK TO TONY OH MY GOD THOSE ACTION SCENES ARE AMAZING OH MY GOD!_**

**Tyene: (long sufferingly) She's been like that since yesterday. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 3: Opening School Day Confrontations**

Harry, Megan, and Maya rejoined Tracey with Cassandra and Perceus not far from Hagrid, who was still calling all the first years towards him. Harry smiled, _some things never change, _he thought fondly.

Megan was looking around in wonder. "Damn, I almost forgot what this place looked like when it wasn't a smoking wreck," She said.

"Where are the boats?" Maya wondered, looking out across the black water.

"They got decommissioned after a few third years got struck by lightning. They were lucky that St Mugos managed to save them." Cassandra responded. "The Headmaster got all sorts of Howlers over the incident and he switched it up to Motion Portkey instead."

"Motion Portkey?" Harry asked. Just up ahead, he saw an entire group of students vanishing as though stepping behind a curtain.

"It transports anyone who passes by the first two anchors into the school." Perseus explained. "There's a sort of self destruct security system that prevents unwanted visitors from entering, but it's perfectly harmless and much safer."

Harry passed through the portkey holding Maya's hands. Surprisingly, especially how ungraceful he tended to be whenever travelling magically, he stepped straight into the Hogwarts great hall with no trouble at all.

Megan let out a low whistle. "Is it just me, or does this place look different then I remember?" She asked caustically.

Harry looked around for a minute and realized she was right. While the general appearance of the hall seemed the same, there was a low hum of hostility among the older students, especially in Slytherin. Fudge and Dolores Umbridge were also sitting at a smaller table next to the teachers, along with Rita Skeeter.

"So. Am I catastrophizing, or do you girls see three of our worst enemies sitting up at front too?" Harry asked dryly.

"Oh, I see them." Tracey said darkly. Umbridge had been her killer in the original timeline, so the red haired girl was looking forward to giving her some payback should she get the opportunity.

"Great. How am I supposed to enjoy dinner now?" She complained.

"Why are they even here?" Maya asked quietly.

"Me, probably." Harry grumbled. "You said the Ministry seems more overtly pureblood in this timeline then we remember. And I am still the goddamned 'boy who lived' or whatever they're calling me here, so I'm not surprised they're here."

Megan growled and placed her hand on her hip, where she had always holstered her shotgun in the prior time line. Maya reached out and took her hand, murmuring something Harry didn't catch. To his surprise, some of the tension left Megan's shoulders.

Harry found himself glad of this. When he had first considered his situation, ie having multiple soul bonds, he was worried about the effects it would have on the girls emotionally. He didn't want them to think he didn't love each of them – he did, thanks to their first lives together. He worried that they would feel threatened by each other's presence.

But the fact that Maya was able to comfort Megan – something Harry himself hadn't been able to do until a ways into their relationship – gave him hope that this situation, this series of soulbonds, might be a good experience for all of them.

Professor McGonagall, once again, began reading out the lists of new students.

"Abbot, Hannah!"

Hannah looked different as well. Her hair was cut short and dyed blonde, and she walked with her head held high daring anyone to judge her.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Huh. So Hannah's life was different too.

"Abbot, Phoenix!"

She had a brother too. He was also blonde and had a serious expression. "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bones, Susan!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Susan blanched a bit at this proclimation, but she made her way over to the table of green and silver, sitting down next to a pair of twins with dirty blonde hair.

"Crabbe, Vincent!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Goyle, Gregory!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Malfoy, Draco!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

So Crabbe and Goyle were still friends with Draco. Harry shook his head at the sheer weirdness of this while still paying attention to the sorting.

"Greengrass, Daphne!" "RAVENCLAW!"

"Granger, Hermione!"

Harry gaped. Hermione looked completely different! She was dressed in expensive looking robes with a diamond clip holding her braided hair back. She had a cold expression on her face, a mask of ice that reminded him of some of the slytherin girls...like Pansy.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry's heart sank slightly. Hermione's support had been hugely needed at the early parts of his life. He didn't doubt his girls would help him now, but it was discouraging not to have one of his first friends around. At least she didn't seem to be acting like the New Ron...

"Lupin, Cassandra!"

Cassandra walked up to the chair. The hat didn't even reach her head before proclaiming, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Cassandra punched at the air, whooping with glee, and ran over to the table. A moment later, she was joined by Perseus, who took a similarly brisk stay under the hat.

"Macmillian, Ernie!" "SLYTHERIN!"

"Turpin, Lisa!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Longbottom, Neville!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Brown, Lavander!" "RAVENCLAW!"

"Parkinson, Pansy!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Moon, Lilian!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Perks, Sally Anne!" "RAVENCLAW!"

"Potter, Harry."

Harry sighed as all eyes were on him. Once again, he heard whispering.

"That's him? That's Potter..."

"He looks different then I imagined..."

"I thought he'd be taller..."

Making his way up to the hat, Harry sat down on the chair as the hat was placed down on his head. Once again, a voice echoed softly through his head.

"_Welcome back, Mr Potter!"_

"_Oh. Do you remember the first timeline too?"_

"_No, I was informed of it by the Headmaster."_

"_So what's the verdict this time?"_

"_Must you ask? You may find somethings more difficult to handle this time around...be careful, and keep your wits about you. I'll give you what little help I can offer...good luck, Harry Potter. _GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table exploded into cheers as Harry got up and made his way towards them, a tribal chant of "WE GOT POTTER!" echoing above the noise.

"Jones, Megan!"

Harry sat down next to Perseus and watched as Megan took her place. He was surprised when, a moment later, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

_Was this what the hat meant by help? _He wondered.

This question was quickly confirmed by the following sortings. "Pritchard, Maya!" "GRYFFINDOR!" "Davis, Tracey!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry let out a quiet sigh of relief as the two girls came and join him. Cassandra clapped and high fived Tracey when she sat with them.

The rest of the sorting went fairly without incident. "Prewett, Ron!" went into Slytherin, to Harry's displeasure. "Zabini, Blaise!" went to Ravenclaw, "Boot, Terry!" went to Gryffindor, Seamus stayed in Gryffindor while Dean transferred to Hufflepuff.

"We've got Potter!" The twin blonde girls Harry had seen on the train earlier cheered.

"Hello," He said politely, "What're your names? If this is going to be my new home, I'd like to know everyone else who lives near me."

"How nice."

"I'm Ellen Drayden."

"I'm Laura, her twin sister." The girls smiled. "We're second in command of the Prankster Ring."

"Do I even want to know what that is?" Harry asked.

Ellen laughed. "It's a secret society for the evolution of fun and the torment of pure blood gits."

"Also used to cure certain individuals of any dogma brainwashing," Laura added with a wink.

"But we're just second in command."

"The bosses are over there." Ellen gestured towards Fred and George, who were sitting across from them.

"You flatter us, Ellen!"

"We wouldn't have been able to pull of the Dungbom Extravaganza of '91 without your help!"

"I'm Gred."

"He's Forge."

"You may also know us as Fred and George Weasley."

_Some things never change_. It was actually rather comforting, Harry thought. "Pleased to meet you." He said. "Prankster ring, huh? My dad had a group of friends who preformed all sorts of pranks when they were here."

"Planning to pick up on the legacy?" Both pairs of twins looked rather hopeful at the prospect.

"I hope so...though maybe not yet." Harry admitted.

Megan raised an eyebrow. "That's news to me." She said.

"I feel like I could use a change." Harry said easily. _No kidding, _he thought darkly. _In my last life, I was a pawn who ultimately wasn't a hero, but a sacrificial lamb. This time, since Dumbledore is actually helping me, I plan to keep my agency and do everything in my power to end this war before it even begins._

"I'm planning to join the ring too," Cassandra said with a grin. "Auntie Narcissa will disapprove, but mum says if you don't get caught, it's good practice for later in life."

"I hope my parents don't get too angry that I've been sorted into Gryffindor," Maya said worriedly.

Tracey gave her arm a friendly squeeze. At least this time her parents would be supportive of her no matter where she went.

"So, your mother enjoys pranks?" Harry asked Cassandra, still trying to wrap his brain around the concept of a decent Bellatrix.

"Oh yeah." Cassandra said brightly. "She calmed down on it a bit when she left Hogwarts, but once she and dad settled down she went back to it. I think she's teaching Artemisia in secret."

"That's Draco's youngest sister, right?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Younger then Diana by a few months, as she likes to point out." Perseus muttered, having heard many, many, _many _complaints on that basis. "But technically they're only Draco's half sisters – auntie remarried after the split with Malfoy." He said the last name with visible distaste.

Harry hummed in understanding while stowing this information away in his head. This would certainly be an interesting first year.

**Later**

"Damn!" Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge snarled. "The boy's a Gryffindor. How am I meant to groom him as our new spokesperson if he's under Dumbledore's watchful eye?"

"We could pass a new law..." Umbridge began, but Cornelius cut her off.

"If we pass anything now, we'll overplay our hands and the voters won't support us unless we can make it seem necessary!" Cornelius was nothing if now shrewish when it came to what the public wanted to hear.

"I heard that Potter was raised by muggles," Rita Skeeter remarked. "Perhaps we should address that angle?"

Rita was Fudge's personal reputation destroyer. She had been an enormous asset to him in climbing the ranks to Minister by systematically shaming and slandering his opponents until only Fudge seemed clean enough for voter confidence. It wasn't until after he was in office that he began to show his true colours, with the laws against 'magical beasts' and more.

"Hmm...do me a favour, and dig into where the boy has been living." Fudge said thoughtfully. "There may be some information there that's useful to us."

"What shall we do in the meantime?"

"Mmm...I'll contact one of my backers." Fudge said. "She has a child about Potter's age, perhaps they can reach an...arrangement. If they succeed, Potter will be a proper pureblood heir in no time."

**End Chapter**

**So...a somewhat politically savvy Fudge, a neutral slytherin pureblood Hermione, a Ravenclaw half creature Daphne (to be revealed later)? An 'interesting' year just doesn't quite cover it.**

**Read and Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A Changed World**

**Tyene: (exasparated, standing behind Wanda who's back at her desk with a brand new script in front of her) Don't you have enough ideas on your plate now? Are you really so upset that Qu-**

**Wanda: No! I refuse to acknowledge that move! I REJECT YOUR POWER, WHEDOOOOOOON!**

**Tyene: (faceplams) Can...can you at least update one of the ...nine stories you're already doing?**

**Wanda: (shoves script at her) I haven't forgotten. I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 4: First Classes**

"He's over there!"

"In between the redhead and the grey haired girl."

"Can you see his scar?"

"Has he said anything?"

"Which classes is he in?"

"What's he like? Arrogant? Smart? Stupid?"

"I bet he'll be handsome when he gets older!"

Harry had somewhat expected the usual babble as he, Tracey, Megan and Maya made their way towards their first classes. However, the adoring eyes of the girls that religiously followed him to each of his classes was downright unnerving – especially since a few of them were several years ahead of him.

"I can't believe this seems worse," He moped after running out of transfiguration class with Megan on his heels.

Megan laughed; she had so rarely done so in the future that it always made Harry's blood skip when she did. "Really? Mr Boy Who Lived is surprised he's getting more attention then usual?"

"This was another universe. I can hope can't I?" Harry complained.

Tracey slapped a hand on his shoulders. "We can't change that; woman up." She said cheekily. Maya smiled a bit at the new phrase.

"I reserve the right to complain about it," Harry said stoutly as they walked into Potion's class.

He had gotten better at masking his shock, by Harry's stomach leapt into his throat while Megan swore in German.

The Professor of potions was _not _Severus Snape.

"Lovely language there, Miss Jones." Regulus Black remarked drolly. Megan looked away and muttered an apology. "No points lost, since I'm pretty sure we're the only ones who understood that."

A nervous chuckle swept through the class.

Harry quickly lead Megan over to a table, while a mistified Maya and Tracey needed a minute to regain their equilibrium before joining him.

"Now that everyone is -finally- here," The younger Black remarked, voice dripping with annoyance, "shall we begin this year in proper?"

"Good morning, Professor Black." The class chorused.

"Good morning, class," Regulus echoed back. He sounded spectacularly bored, and rather like he'd prefer to be just about anywhere else. "Now, if anyone has 'forgotten' their potions textbooks behind, now's the time to get them."

Pavarti Patil flushed and hurried out of the room. Regulus then began to pace back and forth, looking a lot more tense and ill at ease in this environment then Snape had.

"Most people underestimate potions," He said. "They aren't flashy like the spells you use every day, but I can tell you right here and now that the potions we make have saved just as many lives as a shield charm – maybe even more. So, if you're expecting to use this class as an excuse to put your feet up because you don't think its worth it, the door's right there – I don't have time to teach and babysit. Do you all understand?"

"Yes Professor."

"Good. How about showing me your theoretical knowledge so I can tell if this is a lost cause or not ahead of time?" Regulus turned his eyes towards Harry. "Potter. What would I get if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"Draught of the living dead, sir." Harry answered respectively.

Regulus's eyes lit up with surprise, though his lip curled back into something of a grimace. He scanned the room again. "Granger. What's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"Nothing." Hermione Granger answered. Her voice was cool, polite and devoid of inflection. "They're the same plant, sir."

At the other end of the room, Ron Prewett snickered. Regulus immediately turned his attention to the boy and coldly asked, "If you're so clever, Prewett, how about you tell us what a Bezoar is?"

Ron jumped and looked between Nott, who was on his right, and another person Harry didn't recognize, but neither of them gave the answer.

Regulus snorted. "Try to read the book yourself before you go sneering at others Prewett."

New Ron growled and didn't answer.

"Bones, do you know what a Bezoar is?" Regulus asked, turning towards Susan.

The redhead bit her lip uncertainly but responded in a strong voice, "A stone taken from the stomach of a goat, it's used to cure poisons."

"Correct." Regulus clicked his tongue. "Five points to Gryffindor and Slytherin apiece for answering correctly. Now, on to some practical lessons."

As the lesson went on, Maya muttered, "We really need to do some research."

"Research?" Harry repeated.

"Harry, don't be silly." Tracey whispered. "We all understand the implications of Regulus being alive. We'd better hit the books unless we want to get another unpleasant surprise regarding people connected to the Horcruxes."

Harry nodded in agreement; he hadn't wanted to say any of that out loud in a classroom but everyone else seemed absorbed in their potion work.

Regulus had a very fast and loose style of teaching, virtually the opposite of how Snape had worked. He didn't favour anyone, but he had even less patience for accidents – the minute a potion looked like it might blow, he would vanish it and deduct points to whoever was responsible. Despite this, the students were largely left to do the work on their own while Regulus strode back and forth, watching over their progress with cold silver eyes.

"I wonder why Black was in Snape's place," Megan wondered as they left the class that afternoon. "They were friends back in their school days, but what would have put Regulus in his position?"

"Maybe Regulus was the one who overheard the prophecy," Tracey suggested. "Or maybe something else entirely happened. He obviously isn't very interested in potions, so Professor Dumbledore must be keeping him here for protection."

"Do you suppose if we ask this Dumbledore, we'd get an actual answer instead of deflections or riddles?" Maya wondered aloud.

"I think we can trust this Dumbledore," Harry answered. "He said he was our friend in this journey when I went to see him the first time. He knows everything that happened in the last time and so do I, so there's no reason for him to keep anything from me – I already know what the worst that can happen is."

A crash sounded behind them. Harry and the girls turned around to see Ron shoving Susan up against the wall with Nott and the other boy standing beside him. Ron was growling something too low to hear while Susan looked both distraught and angry.

Harry was about to intervene when altered Hermione stepped out of the classroom and said something quietly. Ron almost instantly backed away. The other girl gave him a credible basilisk impression until the Prewett growled something illegible before stalking away with his bodyguards.

"What's with the dynamic between Hermione, Prewett and Susan?" Maya asked quietly as Hermione handed Susan her books but strode off without acknowledging the other girl's thanks.

"I don't know, but I bet its related to her aunt," Harry said, walking over towards Susan. "Hello," He said politely.

Susan looked up at them in surprise, and quickly wiped her face to clear away gathering tears. "Hello," She said cautiously. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged," Harry responded with a disarming smile. "We saw that altercation – are you okay?"

Susan shook her head. "I'll be fine," She said. "My family just has a...history." She didn't look like she wanted to talk about it.

"Mind if we walk you to your next class?" Tracey suggested. "Just in case Prewett comes back?"

Susan's expression cycled between surprise to confusion then relief. "That's kind of you, thanks...I was going to meet Pansy in the Great Hall for dinner..."

"Are you friends?" Harry asked as the group of students headed towards the centre of the school.

"Yeah. Have been ever since we were small," Susan said wistfully. "I was hoping we would end up in the same house, but I guess that wasn't meant to be. The hat said I would do best in Slytherin."

"There's nothing wrong with being in Slytherin," Tracey said, keeping the tone of offence out of her voice – she had been a Slytherin the first time around after all. "What's wrong is if you're a whiny, sociopathic pure blood bigot."

Susan cracked a smile at that.

"Who was that girl who made Prewett go away the first time?" Megan asked, business-like in tone.

"That was Hermione Granger," Susan answered, her eyes becoming a bit distant.

"What's her deal? She scared him off but just waltzed away without seeing if you were okay or anything."

"I don't know," Susan admitted, her fingers locking together. "The Granger family...it's kind of infamous in the pure blood community. Originally, their family name was Parson...until Hermione's grandmother, Sandra Parson, fell in love with a muggle and ran away with him. She was the only child of Darien and Janice Parson, so they couldn't disown her or their line would end. Instead they made a condition – if Sandra's children didn't marry pure blood witches/wizards, they would inherit nothing. So Jared Granger-Parson married Emily Cale, and Hermione was born. But Jared still acknowledges his muggle heritage – they even have a mansion in America where Hermione spends the summer."

Megan let out a bark of laughter. "Their contemporaries must have loved that."

Susan let out a hollow responding chuckle. "They don't really consider Hermione legitimate, but the Grangers are one of the richest families there. Now they're just trying to curry favour with Jared and Emily so they can make a 'proper' pure blood witch out of Hermione. As you can see, that's made her a bit...chilly."

Harry guessed that Ron had been involved in one of those 'attempts', resulting in whatever Hermione had over him in this lifetime.

"My family...didn't come out of the war very well," Susan admitted reluctantly. It sounded like it hurt to talk about. "Jared Granger came to my aunt's aide after the war was over. Without his support we probably would have become beggars. But I guess the added association to me hasn't been doing Hermione any favours in her social life. She acknowledges me, but...I guess she just doesn't want to get too close to another person outside of what's expected of her."

"That's all a load of bullshit." Megan declared as Susan looked at her in shock. "Sandra had the right to marry whoever she damn well pleased, muggle or not. Jared and Hermione too! We're all human, aren't we? We have hands and legs and eyes? If you stab us, do we not bleed red the same?"

"Megan is right." Tracey said seriously. "You deserve just as much freedom as Ron – you and everyone else."

Susan smiled weakly, tears at the edges of her eyes. "You guys...thank you so much."

They arrived at the Great Hall shortly afterwards. With Harry and Maya's encouragement, Susan sat down right next to Pansy, who was happy to see her. Megan rather pointedly sat between Susan and a disapproving Seamus, firing a metal-melting glare at him. Harry and Tracey also sat down between Pansy and the Lupin twins, and the new friends made causal conversation the first week of classes passed them by without incident.

Things would prove to be much more interesting as the year went on.

**End Chapter**

**Next Chapter, Susan and Hannah end up in the bathroom during Halloween, the Coven bond is expanded upon, and Daphne Greengrass has a secret that Rita Skeeter would love to expose. **

**Read and Review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A Changed World**

**Tyene: You're mind is a dark and twisted labyrinth.**

**Wanda: (cackles) I'll take that as a compliment, thank you. I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 5: Reanimated**

Lunch at Halloween was always a blast, at least if your name wasn't Harry Potter.

"Come _on_ Harry, at least pretend to smile!" Tracey encouraged him as she gave herself yet another plate of dessert.

"I can't, Tracey." Harry said with a sigh. "You know what this day is to me...besides the obvious, it seems that bad things are always happening today."

"Well if you look at it that way, of course bad things are going to happen!" Tracey said, rolling her eyes affectionately. "You need to look on the sunny side of things."

"It's grey and stormy out today." Megan pointed out.

"Don't be such a drag, Megan." Tracey said without missing a beat. Maya giggled, though she quickly hid it with a mouthful of ice cream when Megan scowled at her.

"Also, Hermione was attacked by a troll today..."

"I remember that. But I think this Hermione is very far past caring about anything Ron has to say," Maya remarked thoughtfully. "I doubt she'll be in trouble tonight."

"Hey, what's going on in the hall?" Perceus's voice broke into their conversation. Harry resisted the urge to curse and followed Cassandra's expression to the end of the hall.

/

"Move, Nott." Hannah said through clenched teeth. "I want to have lunch."

Theodore Nott snorted. "I'd rather not have your presence sully my appetite, Abbott."

"That's just too bad then," Hannah said with wavering determination, "Because I want to eat."

"What I can't understand," Theodore said coldly, "Is why the Headmaster would let a mudblood whore's daughter into this prestigious school."

Hannah swallowed hard. She had heard this before, knew that people whispered it behind her family's back...but it had never been said to her face.

Nott knew he had hit a nerve because he proceeded to twist the knife. "Is it true that your mother hung herself when her affair was discovered? That would be better then she deserved."

_**SMACK!**_

_Crap, crap, crap_. She had been trying to control that reflex since she was little – it always brought trouble upon her instead of her tormentors, because she had struck her betters for reminding her of her place.

But all the same, Hannah saw her mother's pale form lying motionless in bed and punched Nott so hard he was thrown on his back with his nose broken.

Her breath heaving, Hannah took a step backwards and then rushed off towards the bathroom, though Nick would be waiting for her she just needed to get away, to keep them from getting in trouble...

Despite running off blindly, Hannah found the girl's bathroom on the first floor and shoved the door open. Collapsing against the wall, she choked and coughed as she tried to contain the tears that desperately wanted to flow.

_People will never let you forget who you are. Accept it, wear it like armour, so they may never use it to hurt you... _Her father's words echoed in her mind. That was the advice he had given her when she had gotten in trouble for starting a fight the first time.

But that wasn't just about her...that was about her mother...her loving mother, the gossip and abuse driving her to suicide...

_I hate them, _Hannah thought fiercely through her tears, _I hate them, I hate them, I hate them all..._

"Hello?"

The new voice startled her out of her thoughts. Hannah looked up from the security of her arms to see Susan Bones standing across from her.

_Great. _Now a Slytherin had seen her cry. It would be all over the school by tomorrow and Nott would be worse then ever. Hannah looked down at her shoes, furiously marshaling her feelings.

"I'm sorry about Nott," Susan said unexpectedly.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Hannah asked suspiciously. _Everyone in those 'noble' houses wear masks...they just want to get in and hurt you, like Lestrange..._

"I know what he's like." Susan responded with a note of bitterness in her voice. "He and Prewett and Malfoy and Macmillian. They're like that around me too." She put her hands in her pockets. "I wish that Black had more power to stop them..."

"He couldn't even if he wanted to," Hannah muttered. "Considering who their parents are."

"I know." Susan said, quietly walking over to her side. Hannah eyed him with suspicion. "You don't have to worry about me having ulterior motives," The Slytherin said matter-of-factly. "Even if I wanted to be part of 'high society', my aunt killed any chance of that. As if I would really want to be one of them."

"...Your aunt's Amelia Bones?" Hannah clarified, brushing her hand across her face to clear the remains of her tears away.

"Yeah." Susan said, a shadow flitting across her face.

"...I see." Hannah looked away again. "Thanks."

Susan forced a small smile. "Good to see you're feeling a bit better. Let's get out of here...this place smells like weed."

Hannah was surprised when a chuckle escaped her lips. Both she and Susan stood up and turned towards the door.

Dumbledore had put some strict enchantments upon the school when he became headmaster to keep out any and all harmful drugs that muggleborns may bring in, since common sense dictated how dangerous they were. It wasn't weed that was stinking up the bathroom.

It was the smell of rotting flesh.

Hannah and Susan stood frozen like deer in headlights. Standing in front of them was a tall, slender, _faceless _figure – it had no eyes, nose or ears. Its flesh was rotting at the hands. Its spine stuck out of its back, causing it to sway when it walked.

/

"SLENDER MAN! THERE'S A SLENDER MAN IN THE DUNGEON!"

Quirrel screamed the words at the stunned lunch crowd when he came barrelling in. "Thought you ought to know," He added before passing out.

There was a short pause before every student in the hall screamed in terror. Cassandra and Perceus both went dead pale at the creature's name while Harry looked around in alarm.

"Slender man? You mean the myth?" Megan demanded as the students all stood up and made a mad dash to the entrance of the hall, McGonagall shouting through a _sonorus _spell for everyone to head for the towers.

"Hannah? HANNAH!?" Phoenix Abbot yelled in a panic, his eyes scanning the crowd.

"Fuck," Harry snarled, immediately taking off towards the girl's bathroom. He had a terrible feeling of deja vu right now...he had to get there in time...

"Wait, do we even know how to fight a Slender Man!?" Megan demanded as the three of them rushed towards the bathroom.

"You can't really fight them!;" Maya said breathlessly, "You can only drive them off...it probably came in from the Forbidden Forest!"

"Well, how do we do that?" Harry asked as they turned the corner.

"The legends say that they're weakened in the light," Tracey recalled anxiously.

"The patronus," Harry said in understanding. A scream ripped through the hall; he recognized Susan's voice immediately.

The four of them burst into the bathroom and laid eyes upon the horrifying spectre for the first time. Harry found himself swamped with a terror even worse then any Dementor. The Slender Man turned ponderously to face them, lifting its hands away from a motionless and deathly pale Hannah and Susan.

Harry pointed his wand at the creature, thought of his first night together with Ginny as man and wife and clearly shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Silver Prongs leapt through the air and delivered a two hoof buck straight to the creature's featureless face.

Tracey joined in next, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Her corpral patronus, a lynx called Sasha, darted under Prongs and latched onto the Slender's back. The creature began to thrash madly while trying to dislodge it.

Maya and Megan exchanged a quick look and raised their own wands. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A king cobra and an eagle joined the fray, attacking with a fierce abandon.

The Slender let out an unholy screech before disappating into a black shadow, which vanished through the wall as the silver beasts gave chase.

Once they were sure the creature was gone, Harry and Maya rushed over to Hannah and Susan. Both girls looked an unearthly gray.

"What's wrong with them?" Harry asked the healer of the group in concern.

"They say...they say that when a Slender Man kills you, they spirit your soul away _somewhere, _while your body becomes another one of them." Maya said, her face drawn and pale.

"Has it already...!?"

"I don't think so," Tracey said, dropping to her knees at Maya's side. "It wasn't done attacking when we came in. There must be some way for us to revive them..."

A moment after she said that, a bright silver light burst into existence and surrounded Harry. The boy let out a yelp of surprise; a moment later that same light drew elegant cords around Maya, Tracey and Megan.

Once it had surrounded those who were awake, several strands slid down and surrounded Hannah and Susan, resting directly over their hearts. Slowly the grayness of their faces faded away as both girls opened their eyes.

"What...?" Hannah muttered, pushing himself up onto his elbows.

Susan blinked up at Harry. "We're...saved? How...how did you make it leave...?"

Harry smiled ruefully. "I told Headmaster Dumbledore that the Patronus charm should be made part of the standard DADA lessons." He said.

"You...can use a patronus...?" Hannah frowned, her brow furrowing. "What...why do I feel...I feel different. My magic...! Why is it responding to you!?"

"You've just become part of a soul bond, miss Abbott." Dumbledore's serene voice caused all the students to look up in shock. The headmaster smiled genially and said, "I came as quickly as I can to dispense of that wicked creature, but it seems I wasn't quite fast enough. Though I must admit, I thought you might go out to face it Harry."

Harry flushed. "Just looking out for others, sir." He said awkwardly. Tracey helped Hannah stand up; the blonde haired girl looked between her, Harry and Dumbledore with a disbelieving expression on her face.

"Good, good." Dumbledore said easily. "Fifty points to Gryffindor for defeating a Slender Man...before even sitting your OWLs...you're an exceptional group of students to have survived that."

"Thank you, sir." Megan said quietly. "If I can ask, how exactly did this thing get in here?"

Dumbledore's expression hardened; he knew the veiled question Maya was asking. "I don't know; I can't begin to express how angry I am that such a thing escaped detection until two of my students were attacked. Classes for tomorrow are cancelled while myself and the staff do a security check."

"Excuse me...professor?" Susan asked uncertainly, "But what did you mean by Soul Bond? A coven?"

Dumbledore smiled in that secret way that had annoyed Harry so much in the previous timeline. "A soul bond was born of powerful love magic, miss Bones. When a witch and a wizard are bound together, they share their magic and their powers, becoming stronger in many ways. That's what you sense now, miss Abbott."

"WHAT!?" Harry demanded, beyond flustered.

"But I don't understand!" Hannah protested, looking confused. "How can I have a soul bond with a guy I don't really know? No offence, Harry," She added quickly, looking away, "I'm grateful for you saving me. But I don't really know you."

"Sometimes you can find companionship in places you never expected." Dumbledore responded serenely. "A soul bond can be formed not just through love, but by selflessness and self sacrifice...hence, what Harry and these lovely ladies have done for you."

"Well..." Hannah looked a little doubtful. "What happens next?"

"That, my dear, is for you to decide." Dumbledore said soothingly. "The bond won't force you to do anything, and it hasn't matured yet. Take things at your own pace. Meanwhile, perhaps it would be rational to keep this bond under wraps just to keep the publicity away."

Susan, Maya and Tracey all nodded in grim agreement. As pure blood heirs, they understood the implications of a coven soul bond at this 'age'. The pure blood community would see it as a way to trap Harry in their society...or as a weapon against him.

"Now, may I escort you all to the tower?" Dumbledore offered. "Your brother is quite worried about you, miss Abbott."

**The Next Day**

News of the Slender attack spread like wildfire; the whole school was throwing rumours around while the papers went wild with speculation and accusations of incompetence, negligence and all sorts of other things.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Phoenix pressed from his seat next to his sister the next day.

"Yes, Nick, I'm sure. It's okay." Hannah said reassuringly as she dug into her breakfast. The attack and the results of it caused her to become quite hungry.

"I can't believe you pulled off a corporal patronus!" Perceus said in amazement while Harry shrugged and tried to brush it off. "Mom taught me and Cassie the spell, but neither of us can make anything other then smoke."

"It comes with practice." Harry said.

"How'd you learn it?" Cassandra asked curiously. "I thought you lived with muggles."

"Erm, well..." Harry really didn't want to talk about the Dursleys, especially since it was bound to be used as anti muggle sentiments if the wrong people were listening in. "I looked at a little theory over the years before I got here. I mean, I didn't want to come here without any knowledge."

Cassandra didn't look like she really believed that; Harry made a mental note to come up with a more convincing story later on. The female Lupin could be extremely stubborn when she wanted to know something.

"There's rumour that Minister Fudge might present you lot with an Order of Merlin for what you did in there," Perceus remarked.

Harry sighed, "Really? Seriously? I don't need a prize for doing the right thing. I just wanted to help Hannah and Susan."

Hannah didn't look at him, but there was a pink flush in her cheeks when he said that.

"About that...thank you for saving Hannah, Harry." Nick said fervently.

"It's no trouble, Phoenix." _I mean, you've already thanked me nearly twenty times already..._ "I mean, you'd think doing good deeds would be a reflex, not something so earth shattering it requires one of the biggest rewards there is."

"Harry, that was a _Slender Man_." Cassandra emphasized. "It's considered amazing you weren't killed as well. Worse, considering what those foul things are capable of..."

"But we're fine," Megan cut in, "And so're Megan and Susan." Sure enough, Susan was once again chatting happily with Pansy a few seats down. "I don't need a medal. You can't put a price on someone's life."

"That's true," Cassandra agreed, looking impressed. "Harry, when I met you I expected you to be..."

"What? Stuck up? Full of myself?" Harry suggested drolly.

"...yes," Cassandra said without missing a beat. "I didn't expect you to be...well, cool. And yet here we are."

Maya smiled, "Yes. He's quite something, especially when you get to know him."

"Oh, _stop_." Harry said, flushing. "I'm really not that amazing. I'm sure they would have done the same thing for me or my friends."

/

On the way to Transfiguration, Ron Prewett passed them in the halls. Privately Harry hoped that he would just keep walking; it was difficult to see what this version of his best friend was like. Unfortunately, fate was not on his side.

"You're still here?" Prewett sneered when he saw Hannah. "I would have thought you'd have gone running to your daddy with your tail between your legs."

"I imagine that's what you would have done, Prewett," Hannah retorted.

Daphne Greengrass stepped forward, frowning darkly at Ron as he scowled and glared at the group. She didn't like Prewett for a number of reasons, even though she didn't really interact with any of the Gryffindors that had become his primary targets.

"You little wh-"

"Oh, piss off Prewett." Daphne snapped.

Harry started. At the sound of her voice, Ron went oddly rigid. He turned towards Daphne, his eyes flicking madly between rage and confusion, before demanding, "And how shall I piss off, Queen Greengrass?" He asked sarcastically.

A flash of cold amusement crossed Daphne's face. "Oh, how about off the Astronomy Tower?" She suggested dryly.

Ron's face twisted into various emotions before he stormed off...in the opposite direction of the Transfiguration classroom.

"Classy," Megan snorted.

Daphne chuckled in agreement before hurrying onward. She hoped they hadn't noticed...she let her annoyance towards Prewett bleed though...well with any luck, even if they suspected they wouldn't guess right...sometimes it payed to have a father in the Ministry of Magic, corrupt as it was.

Everyone knew that Daniel Greengrass and DMLE head Severus Snape were good friends.

Maya gazed after Daphne and whispered, "I don't believe it..."

"What?" Harry asked in surprise.

Maya looked around to make sure no one else was listening before whispering, "You saw how Ron reacted to hearing her voice? That wasn't him leaving in a huff...he felt _compelled _to go."

"Huh? But Greengrass never used magic, I could see her hand." Megan said in confusion.

Hannah, having clearly caught on, gaped in astonishment. "But...but how!? Daniel Greengrass...him off all people, how did he hide it?"

"Hide what?" Megan asked, a note of frustration in her voice.

"Daphne Greengrass is half Siren." Maya whispered.

"Siren?" Tracey started. "I thought they didn't live this far west."

"The Greengrass line is supposed to have originated from Greece." Hannah murmured, still staring in the direction Daphne had disappeared. "But this...holy Medea, how does Lord Greengrass keep his office if he lay with a siren woman?"

"What's so bad about that?" Harry asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"The Ministry doesn't have a high opinion on 'dark' beings, Harry." Tracey said. There was a clear look to her eyes, _it wasn't this bad in the original timeline._ All the time travellers had come to recognize that look. "They're considered little more then animals. Being half siren would bar Daphne from jobs, education...everything, here. She'd be little more then a beggar...or worse."

**End Chapter**

**Whew! I enjoy the Slender Man mythos enough that I decided to add them in. Daphne and Hannah are going to be fun to right, almost as much as Megan Tracey and Maya...they all have such different lives and expectations. When Ginny is mixed in, this should get exciting. **

**Read and Review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A Changed World**

**Wanda: (banging head against desk)**

**Tyene: (grabs her by the shoulders) I warned you! But how is giving yourself a concussion going to help?**

**Wanda: If I could get rid of these earworms, I'm sure that I could get over my writer's block.**

**Tyene: You...you updated this about two weeks ago. It's not the end of the world. Calm down. JK Rowling still owns Harry Potter last time I checked.**

**Chapter 6: Confrontations**

Harry and the girls kept half an eye out for Daphne, just in case, but Ron Prewett didn't seem to have caught on to the real source of his distress. Tracey met her in the library once, introduced herself and the two made a tentative acquaintance, though the former Slytherin reported that the half siren was quite guarded.

_I don't blame her, _Harry thought darkly. _For all she knows, a 'friendly' hand could be someone who would expose her secret in a heartbeat for one of those political games. It'll be difficult to convince her that we're on her side. _

Tracey was definitely the one for the job in that case. Out of the three in the original circle, Maya was a bit too timid while Megan would be to blunt. Tracey, meanwhile, struck an easy balance between empathy and cheerfulness that gave her a distinct air of sincerity. Considering that Daphne rarely spoke to anyone, the fact that Tracey had struck up a conversation was considered a win.

However, Daphne wasn't the only thing the motley group was worried about.

There was a distinct...aggressiveness, for lack of a better word, among purebloods in this universe. Not to say that they weren't back in the original timeline, but purebloods – like the former Draco – had always possessed a sort of confidence in their bullshit doctrine.

Here, it seemed like those with two wizard parents who thought that they should rule the world or whatever other nonsense they'd been raised on seemed...almost desperate to impress this. It was almost as if they were aware that people wouldn't remain quiet forever, and were trying to impress fear of them into the 'new bloods'.

Either that, or they were coldly neutral, like the new Hermione. Maya reported that the girl had calmly, though without malice, rebuffed her attempt at conversation when they had met in the hallway once. Harry was a little dispirited to hear this, but Megan had cheered him up by dragging him down to the Quidditch pitch to watch the latest game between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

Other then that, tensions between the houses were palpable. The pure bloods from Gryffindor, Slytherin and Ravenclaw were at each other's throats, but all of them were united in their utter scorn towards the new bloods or 'blood traitors'.

Honour duels, for instance, were common in the hallways when originally Harry had only heard of them in passing.

Cassandra and Perseus were both challenged twice in the course of a single week, but both twins proved they had learned magic at their formidable mother's knee and utterly destroyed the competition.

Cassandra had hexed Odysseus Nott so thoroughly that he had taken on the appearance of a diseased lemming. It took Poppy three days to finish sorting him out.

"The next person who calls my father a beast or my mother a whore will spend the next few weeks as a drunken ox," She shouted into the hallway, crossing her arms and glaring threateningly. Despite grumbles, no one was willing to contest her on this.

Ron probably would have challenged Harry or Daphne if he had known they were responsible for his current plight.

To say that Aurora Sinestra didn't appreciate him pissing out of the Astronomy Tower window was putting it mildly; she docked a hundred and fifty points from Slytherin and gave him detention until December cleaning her equipment as punishment.

It was a testament to how differently Regulus ran Slytherin then Snape by the sheer apathy of his response to this. Snape certainly would have thrown a fit, but Regulus accepted his student's punishment without so much as batting an eyelash. While she wasn't certain, Maya believed this had something to do with the different pure blood dynamics within Slytherin.

It was almost a pity Tracey hadn't been sorted into Slytherin again – it would have been nice for them to easily get the scoop of what was going on in there.

Meanwhile, Harry and his girls were currently plotting how they were going to confront Quirrel-Voldemort and the stone this year.

The soul bond had unlocked a few of Hannah and Susan's memories – nothing regarding their personal lives from the first timeline, but some of the things regarding Voldemort.

A frazzled Hannah had confronted Harry about it in the morning, though she was somewhat mollified by his awkward explanation for it – which still omitted the whole time travel thing. Harry hoped he wouldn't be _too _mad at him when he eventually told her the whole story.

Susan, on the other hand, surprised Harry entirely by her reaction to the news that Voldemort was still alive – vindication.

"Auntie Amelia said he would come back," She told him fervently during transfiguration class. "No one believed her, except me."

Harry still didn't know exactly what her aunt was doing in this timeline, because Susan would become sullen and quiet whenever the subject came up, forcing Harry to drop it.

Eventually, Harry and the girls settled on a plan – they would go to the stone themselves, and wait for Voldemort to approach them. He had attempted to reach the stone earlier this year, but had been rebuffed by the upgraded defences.

But this time, Harry would go on ahead of him...and would surprise him.

****A Few Days before Christmas Break****

"A dragon? Really, Dumbledore?" Harry griped as Maya cast a healing spell over his burned arm.

Megan walked over to join them, shooting a sad look over her shoulder at the dragon who was now crying for her to return. It was a young Hungarian Horntail, a girl – she had nearly roasted Harry before Megan sprang in and thrown a conjured beach ball at it.

It turned out the dragon just wanted to play. Unfortunately, the group was on a time limit and couldn't indulge her that much at the moment.

"I hope she's sent to a good reserve after all this." Megan said, sighing.

Quiet moments of affection like this usually jolted Harry's memory of the fact that the sniper-wielding, computer hacking girl did in fact have some emotional vulnerability. Usually she hid it behind icy sarcasm and stoicism.

Finally they reached the last room...and there was Quirrel, just as expected.

"...How did you know?"

"What?"

"Don't play fool with me, Potter! You know about my horcruxes...how is that possible!?"

"Huh!?"

**End Chapter**

**Uuuuuugh, I forgot how much I hate rewriting first year. Aside from Quirrelmort, nothing particularly serious happens, aside from the whole dragon thing. Plus with Harry so different, he doesn't do the same things so he stays safer. At least I'm back in action next chapter! **

**Does Voldie remember the future, and thus be able to act like less of a moron when he tries to take over? We'll see next time!**

**Read and Review please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A Changed World**

**Tyene: You know, you could always just write Jurassic World fanfiction...**

**Wanda: (curled up) I want a pet raptor...**

**Tyene: ...You have issues. We do not own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 7: Battle**

Harry's head spun, _did Voldemort know about the previous timeline too!? But wait, that doesn't make sense...he knows that the horcruxes were destroyed once, but he doesn't know how...or he would have said so. Better play it carefully. _"Whore crutches?" He said dumbly.

Hannah kicked him in the shin, causing him to swear in pain. "_Never _use that word around me," She snapped warningly.

"Huh. So you're the great pureblood dark lord." Megan pronounced, staring at Voldemort for a minute. "...You're uglier then I expected. How many twins do you have to marry to have your face on the wrong side of your head?"

"_Silence mudblood!_"

"You look like a botched clay totem." Megan went on, her brows knitting together as she faux seriously tried to figure out what she was looking at. "Or some sort of Frankenstin abomination. Are you sure you weren't stitched together from scraps?"

"_Megan_..." Maya whispered, glancing between their adversary and their lineup of friends. Susan had turned white with momentary panic, but some of that had drained away at Megan's comments. Hannah had a coldness seep into her eyes while Megan and Tracey were just tensed and ready to move.

"You look like Jamie Lannister trick or treating as Dracula." Megan went on.

"Erm, Megan? He's not going to get that reference. It's 1992 again, remember?" Tracey deadpanned.

Megan blinked and scowled immediately. "What? Now? Fucking hell, I forgot again...goddamn it, you mean the frickin Peter Jackson movies haven't been made yet!?"

"Unfortunately not. Hell, Titanic hasn't been made yet. Or Iron Man." Maya said the last one with a bit of distress in her voice.

"...Then what the fuck am I supposed to see in theatres this summer!?" Megan demanded. The three girls had either forgotten that Voldemort was in the room or were choosing to ignore him in order to piss him off.

"Hey, remember the 90s had a lot of great action movies." Maya said soothingly; Harry had shown her a few during his trips over to America in search of support during the first timeline. It hadn't really worked out, but he had shown his girl the beauty of muggle entertainment. "I'm sure they'll be fun."

"I guess...hey Maya, remind me to cast Protegro Maxima over the Twin Towers the next time we go to America."

"Got it."

Judging by how Voldie's chalk white extra face had somehow managed to go even _whiter _at that, it was working.

Harry decided to take advantage of this and throw _Sectumsempra _directly at the man's throat.

The girls immediately drew their wands and attacked on their own when a furious Voldemort threw a protection charm over himself and tried to return fire. Megan was nearly grazed when she instinctively went for her gun, forgetting she didn't have it at this point in time.

"_Bombarda!"_

"_Incendio!_"

"_Reducto!"_

"_Levicorpos!"_

"_Protegro!"_

Hannah obviously had prior experience with duelling not unlike Cassandra, because she worked fluidly alongside Maya and Megan, the best that Harry had ever seen other than Ginny or Flitwick. However, he found that despite jumping on Voldemort from behind physical contact didn't burn him the way it did last time.

_It must be because the magic is shared_, Harry realized. _It was bound to have some consequences...!_

Susan yelped as she was caught off guard while healing Hannah. Voldemort raised his wand to send an AK her way when Megan got in the way and fired off a disarming spell, striking him in the chest and knocking him backwards.

Snarling in rage, Voldemort surged to Quirrel's feet and aimed another fatal curse at the dark haired girl...

Then a fearsome roar shook the entire building to its foundations.

Megan gasped as a huge, scaled form flew over her and landed between her and her opponent. The green light struck the scales but sputtered out.

A young Hungarian Horntail stared down at Voldemort. Even though it was in the dragon equivalent of its preteen years, she was already twice the man's size with a jaw that was nearly as big as Susan, the smallest of the group.

"Do you think your beast can stop me?" Voldemort demanded.

To everyone's surprise, the dragon's eyes narrowed. It was as if...she recognized that she had just been insulted.

Tom Riddle, while cruel and violent, had never been particularly intelligent when it came to judging how dangerous people other then him could be. Any person without an overinflated opinion of their own power would have immediately disapparated in terror if they were face to face with a dragon, fully grown or not.

So when the Horntail opened her mouth revealing orange and purple flame building up in her throat, Voldemort stood right where he was.

The burst of fire burned a hole through the Mirror itself, and then though the side of the school.

When Harry could finally lower his hands away from his eyes, there was nothing left of Riddle but a pile of ashes.

The girls and boy all stayed frozen where they were, blinking owlishly at the usually feral and violent creature that had come to their rescue. The Horntail turned around and gazed down at Megan, lowering her snout until it was an inch away from the girl's stomach.

Megan admirably managed to control her body in spite of this.

After a painful moment of silence, the Horntail nudged Megan slightly and stepped back a bit.

"What do I do?" Megan hissed, confused as well as alarmed.

"Megan...I think it imprinted on you." Susan whispered.

"_what?_"

"She's clearly very young...most dragons these days that still exist have been forced to be born in captivity and isolation." Susan whispered. "It's hurtful...you're probably the first one to ever play with her since the Headmaster had her moved here. So she imprinted on you. You're...her mommy, basically."

"_...that's a joke, right!?"_

"Megan, can you...go pet it before it eats us all?" Tracey whimpered.

"It's a her, Tracey." Megan snapped, before blinking in surprise at herself. Carefully she got to her feet, watching the Horntail warily. The dragon flicked her tail and growled, causing the girl to freeze, but she made no move to attack. Cautiously, Megan raised a hand and stood still. The dragon nudged it with her nose, snorted some smoke, and then clawed at the iron harness and chains that hwere still tangled around her neck and legs.

"That looks...painful." Megan murmured. "Harry, could you come over here...unlocking charms aren't my forte and these look complex."

Harry swallowed, "Are you sure she won't eat me?"

"Stay further away than I am." Megan responded. "If she moves towards you I'll try to get her attention."

"...and how far would I get before I end up like Riddle?"

"Harry, shut up, she can probably smell fear. That isn't helpful." Megan snapped, keeping her eyes on the Horntail.

"I can't help it! Bad memories," Harry said, shivering when he thought of the Horntail that had nearly killed him in the previous timeline. _Could they even be the same dragon? I'm no animal expert, but I'm pretty sure they were both girls..._

However, at Megan's request he carefully got up and cast a number of unlocking charms, allowing the dragon to spread her wings and shake off the chains. She shivered, as if she had never really experienced such freedom. Megan smiled hesitantly, at which point the Horntail lifted her up on its head and hurtled out of the chamber.

The rest of the group exchanged stunned looks before hurrying after them.

****Later****

"So Voldemort has incomplete memories of the previous timeline," Dumbledore stated gravely. Outside his window, the dragon was flying around with Megan on her back in a mildly insane manner. Harry fervently hoped his fourth wife didn't get airsick. "I see."

"Erm, sir? What should we do about Megan's...?"

"Ah, you mean the imprint?" At this, Dumbledore smiled. "I confess I rather hoped something like that might happen...magical creatures can be treated truly abominably by the Ministry and the pure blood upper class...I managed to rescue that little one from Gringotts a few weeks ago, but she can't say here as much as Hagrid would like it due to Ministry decrees."

Harry, Maya and Tracey all glowered at that. Hannah and Susan had been sent off to the hospital after being congratulated for their courage; they weren't privy to the whole, changed timeline just yet. Harry planned on filling them in once he reunited with Ginny; since they were part of the soul bond it physically hurt to keep things from them.

"What should we do about her?" Harry asked skeptically.

Dumbledore let out a gentle chuckle. "Harry, did you not explore your family's mansion to its fullest? Have you not seen your back yard? There's more than enough room for a dragon to fly around without detection, as long as you ward her in at the property lines. Just remember – she prefers sheep, and it would be good to make sure she isn't seen by outsiders."

Maya and Tracey both nodded at this, clearly sympathizing with the battered young dragon, so Harry decided to give in at the end.

"What should we do about the horcruxes?" Harry asked, trying to bring the conversation back to the important thing.

Dumbledore sighed. "If he knows they were destroyed, even if he doesn't know how, he will move them. Harry, I want you to research high profile curse breakers while I try to discover where he might have moved the horcruxes too."

"Do you want me to..."

"Harry, Maya, Tracey...all of you, take a rest this summer. You've done magnificently this year and you deserve to take a break."

"Thank you sir," Maya said quietly, clearly envisioning spending some time with Graham.

"Have you found the chamber?" Harry asked.

"It's been moved to a different place."

"Well, that's just-!"

"Language, miss Davis." Dumbledore said chidingly. Tracey scowled and crossed her arms. "You are eleven again."

****Last Day of School****

"Why do you suppose Fudge and Umbitch were back?"

"Megan..."

"What, we're all thinking it, I'm just saying it." The girl said with a scowl as they stepped outside of the school.

"Something related to 'Quirrel' no doubt." Harry said sourly. "You remember fifth year; given how bad the Ministry seems to be in this year, I wouldn't put it past them to be trying that now."

"So, what'd you call her?" Maya asked curiously as Megan's Horntail roared in greeting from her napping spot next to Hagrid's hut.

"Delta." Megan responded with a grin as they approached. She stepped forward and raised her hand, murmuring something Harry couldn't quite hear. Delta made a noise that almost sounded like Crookshanks's purring and opened her wings. Megan carefully climbed onto her neck and smirked at the rest of her friends.

"Hang on tight," She said causally.

_Oh, boy. _Harry thought, gulping as he was reminded once again of the dragon that was part of their escape from Gringotts.

**End Chapter**

**So yeah...Megan has a dragon now. Fun times. Dragons were always my favorite mythical creature besides unicorns, which were always gentler and kinder. They're just so badass...and close kin to dinosaurs as far as I'm concerned.**

**Read and Review please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A Changed World**

**Wanda: An overdue but shorter chapter because I have a bit of writer's block on this story.**

**Tyene: (carrying a huge number of books, pissed off) Maybe you should start writing them _one at a time-! ARGH! _(slips on the stairs and drops all the books)**

**Wanda: (pretending not to hear her) I do not own Harry Potter, only my ideas.**

**Chapter 8: Summer Break**

"...So let me get this straight. A machine merged you with your past self in an alternate universe after Voldemort's toadies won the war, and you want to change things so that never happens. Also, where you come from Draco was an asshole, Bellatrix Lupin was a psychopath, Headmaster Dumbledore was a manipulative imbecile, Ronald Prewett was a decent person and Minister Fudge was less malicious and more stupid."

"That about sums it up."

"Also, you fell so in love with your friends that you formed more then one soul bond. That activated all at once when you came back here."

"Sort of. I didn't know about that bit before I came back."

Hannah and Susan stared at him for a long minute, making Harry twitch nervously as he waited for them to either laugh at him, or punch him and run away. Delta roared in the background of Potter Manor as she happily tore through the sky, passing over the green fields behind.

Dumbledore hadn't been kidding when he said that the Potter Manor land was huge. Apparently Lily had been somewhat of a conservationist, talking James into buying a large chunk of countryside that was running the risk of being turned into frakking land. While the house itself was a simple mansion, the property wards extended out for over five miles to the ocean.

"...So that's the soul bond that you brought us into, when the Slender Man attacked us." Hannah said.

"I didn't specifically mean to do that!" Harry said hastily. "I just meant to rescue you because I didn't know if you heard the warning, nothing more."

"..."

"...Please don't hurt me."

"I'm not going to hurt you." Hannah said after a painful moment of silence. Harry let out a sigh of relief. "I'm...just going to say that you surprised me and leave it at that. To be honest, I was expecting you to keep this stuff from me."

"I wouldn't do that." Harry promised. "Trust me, I know how frustrating and dangerous that is. Besides, if we're going to be connected by this, we should all know about it."

"So we're your wives?" Susan asked cautiously.

"Not if you don't want to be," Harry said, shaking his head. "This bond...it won't take your free will away. If you don't want to stay, you can go now."

Susan smiled for a moment before saying, "I like your kindness, Harry. I think I'd like to stay."

"Seriously?" Harry said with a start. "I was expecting you to bite my head off."

"If you were less 'you can go if you want' and more 'you owe me it now', I definitely would have punched you." Susan responded. "But you've been so kind and thoughtful I wouldn't mind staying. Certainly beats staying at home by myself."

"By yourself? Where's your aunt?"

"...Away. She has to go out of the country a lot and can't afford to take me with her."

Hannah bit her lip for a moment before saying, "Mind if I go in and out? Nick would like me to hang out with him, but he knows I don't like the house."

"You can tell him he's welcome to come over as well if he'd like – Maya's bringing Graham once she convinces her parents. There's more than enough space. Plus we've invited Cassandra and Perseus over in August."

Hannah managed a small smile. "Cool. I think he'd like that."

"Speaking of Maya, where is she? Or Tracey, for that matter?" Susan asked, looking around the Manor in confusion.

"Maya's with her brother, and Tracey wanted to go out to a party with her parents. They'll be here by tomorrow." Harry explained.

"A party?" Hannah blinked and frowned a bit. "I thought Tracey hated those."

"She has ulterior motives." Harry explained. Delta roared again, causing both girls to stare at the dragon as she flew over their heads. "Megan's flying Delta right now – want to take a closer look?"

"...Let me get back to you on that." Hannah said in a small voice.

**With Tracey, the Gamp Estate**

Tracey grumbled over her father's obligation to shaky 'ally' Grandmother Gamp. At first she had jumped at the chance to go to a party the Prewetts were attending, allowing her to get Ginny and bring her back to the Manor, but the stares she got from boys her age (and some older men for that matter) had already worn her patience so thin she was tempted to throw a banshee like screaming fit, filled with a lot of words she had learned from the US navy when she travelled overseas with Harry in the previous timeline.

_Oh please, do be a little less subtle about seeing me as a piece of meat on a platter, or an expensive object your considering _buying_. I don't mind it at all. Bastards! _

_Thank god mom and dad will never sell me now. To think they always could have been like this...ugghh fuck bloodline wars, turning loving parents into insane fanatics. _

Tracey eventually ran up to the third floor and spied in the dance from above, seeking out her target. Secretly she was planning to drop a prank on Ronald before running off with Ginny – if she had a good opportunity, that is.

Rescuing that poor abused redhead was definitely the priority here.

At last, she spied Molly Prewett – man, she missed the lady who had been Molly Weasley in the original timeline. It was freaky seeing her like this. Percy, however...eh, she didn't see much of a difference in him – he was as pompous, opportunistic and self important as he had ever been. Ronald seemed to have collected all of his worst traits and none of his good ones.

Ah...there she was.

Ginny looked miserably uncomfortable, distinctly lacking her usual firey aura that Tracey remembered from their first school days. That needed to be fixed. Pronto.

Discreetly Apparating downstairs – it was so convenient to not be followed by the Trace. While few knew it, only muggle borns and half bloods were given the Trace to follow them. With pure bloods, it was simply thought that they would understand magic much better and would follow its rules. Naturally, few did – they didn't exactly learn to respect muggles from their parents.

Sneaking to the edge of the ballroom, Tracey tapped Ginny on the shoulder. The girl glanced over at her in surprise, a look of familiarity crossing over her face.

"Hey. You look like hell. Want to get out of here?"

**End Chapter**

**Next time, Ginny meets up with Harry again and reveals she may have a way to help them go Pettigrew Hunting! Will this work out as they hope it will, or will this alternate universe throw them yet another unexpected curve-ball?**

**Read and Review please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A Changed World**

_**Tyene: You're back here?**_

_**Wanda: I hate leaving a story unfinished.**_

_**Tyene: (stares deadpan at her) you're going to break your brain.**_

_**Wanda: That's my sorrow, then. Writing is my passion, and this is summer break. I'll write as much as I can and want to! I will bring this story full circle and give it an ending!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

**Interlude 1: The Circle is Complete**

"I didn't know you liked pranking!" Ginny said with excitement in her voice as she and Tracey vanished into the confusion left behind by several magic charmed disco balls. They were a creation of Laura and Fred Weasley, and not for the faint of heart – specifically, those who hated horribly outdated music.

"I've learned from some great friends at school," Tracey said with a grin. "C'mon. Let's get out of here. I've found this cool new place with my friends."

"Cool place? How exactly would you define 'cool'?" Ginny asked curiously as the two girls bolted through the front door of the massive double doors of the Gamp estate. "Fred and George called their Dungbomb raids 'cool'. At least they did, before..." Ginny hesitated, before shaking her head. "Anyway, I've learned to be a bit wary."

"Trust me, I think you'll like it." Tracey promised. "Megan's loving it already – have I told you about Megan Jones?" When Ginny shook her head, Tracey began ranting about her new friends as they scrambled down the darkening streets of high society Wizard London. "Megan is a muggle born I befriended during the first school year. She's totally awesome; she speaks fluent German, she doesn't take s—t from anyone, and she acts like a cool big sister. Then there's Maya. She's super sweet, and she keeps us all in line. She's got an adorably creepy little brother too; I think you'd like him."

"Adorable...and creepy?" Ginny echoed, looking oddly at Tracey as they ran across the road, waving for the Knight Bus to wait for them as it picked up a pair of older witches. The diver smiled and waved at them as they scrambled on board. Stunspike was nowhere to be seen; the bus was being driven by a young woman with the ticket master being a young boy.

"Potter Manor Gates, please." Tracey said, handing the boy a handful of galleons.

"Then there's Cassandra Lupin and her brother Percy. Cassandra's a duellist, and a great one. Percy's a huge bookworm." Ginny's eyes lit up at the mention of duelling. She had always wanted to learn the trade, but Molly Prewett didn't believe that was 'appropriate' for a young heiress to learn something so 'brutal and unladylike'.

"Can I meet her at this place?"

"She's going to come over later in August. If you stick around, you're bound to meet her." Tracey said in a friendly way. "Oh, and then there's Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones. Susan's a law geek, and Hannah's another duellist with some experience with healing potions."

"I heard some people talking about Hannah." Ginny recalled with a frown. "The other gits mum has been making me mingle with kept saying nasty stuff about her mother, calling her a bastard half blood."

"Yeeahhh, don't say that to her face." Tracey winced. "She nearly put Theodore Nott through the wall at Halloween when he tried that on her."

"I would never!" Ginny said indigently. "That pack of gits don't know anything about her, and I don't want to be anything like them."

Tracey grinned. "I figured you'd say something like that. You were always one of my best friends whenever I got dragged out to those bloody parties."

Ginny smiled slightly. "I'm glad you were there too." She said. "Ron always picks on me, and Percy's about as welcoming and brotherly as ice water. My only real solace has been my letters to my friend Luna in America; till I met you." The Lovegood family had moved to America on the suggestion of Pandora, a Seer, who had predicted that tragedy may befall them if they remained in the Rookery. A fringe attack from three former death eaters on their former home, three days after they had moved, proved that had been a wise move.

Tracey nodded. "That sounds pretty shitty."

Eventually the bus came to a stop at the gates of Potter Mansion. Tracey and Ginny both thanked the driver and tossed some extra change to the boy before jumping off.

Delta, having seen the new visitors from her favourite mountainside perch, trumpeted happily. Ginny's eyes grew huge with glee. "You have a dragon?!" She gasped.

"Technically, she's Megan's, but yeah. Her name's Delta. Her mommy will introduce you later if you just ask." Tracey suggested. The slightly manic look in the redhead's eyes showed her appreciation. "C'mon. Let me introduce you to my friends, and Harry Potter."

Now bouncing slightly with anticipation, Ginny trailed slightly behind Tracey as the two walked up the entrance. Tracey used her magic key to open it up and pushed the ornate, intrinsically silver designed double doors open. Waiting just in the foyer, reading an advanced magic theory book, was Harry Potter.

Ginny gasped and stumbled backwards. Harry raised his head, and when she looked into his eyes, she was flooded with memories.

"_You can be such an idiot, you know that Harry?" She laughed and shook her head. "I'm not afraid of anything, because you're here with me. With us together, we can face any horror, any danger, and some part of me will always be happy, because I love you."_

Ginny fell to her knees, dazed as her memories came flooding back. Tracey knelt next to her as Harry bolted to her side, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Ginny? Gin, are you okay?"

"H-Harry..." She gasped, before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. Tracey blinked and looked away awkwardly while Harry gently rubbed circles on her back to try and calm her down. "Harry, I was..."

"It's okay, Ginny. It was the Kronotron. I got it to work."

Ginny blinked the tears away from her eyes. "Yes. Yes, you did. Bill's alive. Fred and George, they're both alive. Dad's alive...everyone's here. Even if..." her expression faltered slightly, "even if they aren't the same."

"Molly..." Harry's expression became dismal. "I'm so sorry, Ginny. I wish I could reverse that somehow. I miss the real Molly too..."

Ginny smiled weakly and shook her head. "It's...I don't blame you, Harry. We knew from the start that time magic that changed history was bound to be volatile. Besides...even if I don't like to acknowledge it, Percy isn't much different."

Harry gave her another hug. The two stood there for a moment before they broke up and Ginny gave him a curious look. "So...Soul Bonds? I can feel it in my heart. Are Megan and Maya here? I'd like to see them again."

"Yeah, Megan's in the back yard, and Maya out at the moment – going shopping with her little brother."

"Graham?" Ginny smiled as she stood up. "How's he doing?"

"He's not much different. Still a cranky, mini Sherlock Holmes." Tracey said fondly. I can't wait for you to meet Hannah and Cassandra, though. You guys should get along great."

**End Chapter**

_**I'm sorry this took so long. I got introduced to Code Geass. There's an addictive drug if there was ever one, even if the second season isn't as good as the first. It's still the best anime I've ever watched!**_

_**Read and Review please!**_


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